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The Ghost Festival is a traditional Chinese festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month. The Ghost Festival represents the connections between the living and the dead, earth and heaven, body and soul. Hungry Ghost festival is a popular occasion that is taken very seriously by the Chinese. This festival is celebrated mainly in China ,Taiwan and other countries.

The reason why the Chinese celebrate this festival is to remember their dead family members and pay tribute to them. They also feel that offering food to the deceased appeases them and wards off bad luck. It is believed by the Chinese that during this month, the gates of hell are opened to free the hungry ghosts who then wander to seek food on Earth. They also feel that offering food to the deceased appeases them and wards off bad luck.

An interesting superstition about the festival is that children are advised to return home early and not to wander around alone at night. This belief is due to the reason that the wandering ghosts might possess children.

The Chinese also do a lot of offerings to the deceased. These offerings are made by burning fake money notes, which are also known as ‘hell money’ and even paper television or radio sets. Some families also burn paper houses & cars to give to their dead relatives. They feel that these offerings reach the ghosts and help them live comfortably in their world.

15th of the month is an important date to give a feast to the ghosts. On this date, the family will cook a lot of dishes and offer them to the deceased. This is done to please the ghosts and also to gain good luck for the family. 15 days after the feast, the festival will be over, the ghosts return back to where they come from.

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